The Blue Bomber is Back!
The newest entry in this iconic series blends classic, challenging 2D platforming action with a fresh look. The stunning new visual style refreshes the series' iconic colorfulness, combining hand-drawn environments with detailed, 3D characters.

To save the day, the Blue Bomber must battle Robot Masters and take their powerful weapons for himself, which now changes the hero’s appearance with new levels of detail. The innovative new Double Gear system lets you boost Mega Man's speed and power for a new twist on the satisfying gameplay the series is known for.

A variety of difficulty modes makes this the perfect opportunity to experience Mega Man for the first time! Mega Man 11 also features a variety of extra modes including time trials, missions, global leaderboards, a gallery of concept art, and more!

Some time after his latest clash with Mega Man, Dr. Wily found himself once again scheming for taking over the world. But first he would have to crush his nemesis once and for all! Dr. Wily remembered the time when he was still in the academy as Dr. Light's collague, they developed a robot system called "Double Gear". Back then, it was deemed useless, and forgotten, but now Wily knew exactly how to use it. With the gear system in place, Wily stormed Dr. Lights lab, and stole 8 of the robots working there. After that, the reprogrammed them to figh agains Mega Man. The world would not now peace until those robots were slewn, so it's time for once again to Mega Man fight for everlasting peace.

Block Man
A small and stout robot developed to work in construction site's by creating blocks. His weapon is Block Dropper.

Fuse Man
A robot created to manage and repair electric equipment, he has an electric current running through his body. His weapon is Scramble Thunder.

Blast Man
Similat to Bomb Man, Blast man was created to create explosions for construction, but has now been reprogrammed by Dr. Wily. His weapon is Chain Blast

Torch Man
Altough he has problems keeping his flames under control, his main occupation was to teach campers of fire's dangers. His weapon is Blazing Torch.

Impact Man
A construction robot with a great sense of duty. His weapon is Pile Driver.

Bounce Man
Originally nothig more than a crast test dummy, his flexibility enabled him to became a fitness instructor. His weapon is Bounce Ball.

Tundra Man
Works alone and investigates the arctic areas of the planet. Enjoys skating. His weapon is Tundra Storm.

Acid Man
A chemist, turned into a mad scientis by Dr. Wily. His weapon is Acid Barrier.

Mega Man is back from exile, and he brought a nice gift for us to show there's no hard feelings. Mega Man 11 brings back the same high-quality platforming that made the Blue Bomber a household name in the '80s and '90s, and the new Double Gear system shakes up the classic gameplay without feeling like an intrusion.

Mega Man’s new tricks are even more important because Capcom didn’t pull any punches in terms of difficulty, but old-school challenge feels like a fair fight thanks to precise controls. Four different difficulty modes allow everyone to find a comfortable playthrough, but I had the most fun on the normal setting. The shop system also lets you tune your experience. You get to keep all the bolts you earn when you die, and these are used to purchase extra lives, energy refills, and permanent upgrades like larger buster shots and better traction on ice. So even when I crashed and burned during a boss fight, I never felt like all was lost.

Mega Man 11 sticks so close to the established formula that it wouldn’t have made much of a splash if it had come out in 2008, or 1998. In fact, it has more in common with 1996’s Mega Man 8 than any other game in the series, and feels like a direct sequel to it. I found Mega Man 11 amusingly difficult even with the help of the time-slowing Double Gear system and there are some cool robot moments, but in a series with such great highs (Mega Man 2, 3, 9,10, specifically) and lows (Mega Man 7), it’s pretty average. The robot bosses are mostly bland and familiar (with the exception of the very silly Block Man – I love that guy), and their imparted weapons are a hit-and-miss collection. But Mega Man plays like he should even with the cutesy but tolerable art style, and that’s good because the challenge is cranked up to 11 and getting through these levels takes old-school precision and patience. Mega Man 11 is a good foundation for the next 10 Mega Man games.

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Already pre-loaded on Switch. Can't wait to jump back into another Mega Man! This is the most excited I've been for a MM game since MM9. I thought 10 was too much too soon, but the jump in graphics and change in gameplay have me excited for MM again!

Member

I'll get it eventually but even though I specifically asked for this many years ago in a Capcom survey I'm a bit disappointed that it is so rigidly similar is structure, mechanics and level design as the prior 10 mainline Mega Mans. The only new mechanic is the gears which just make the game easier.

All of these years of Indies putting out incredibly impressive looking and inventive side scrollers, Capcom comes along with just another Mega Man game that could easily be pallet swapped into 8 bit and fool someone that it's from the NES era. Scrolling levels, square platforms and environments. It kinda looks like they developed it 8 bit and then swapped in pseudo 3d graphics.. Like why is the running animation like that?

I dunno, I wish they would put as much effort into reinvigorating this IP as they have RE and DmC. Playing it safe and regurgitating gameplay is what got this series in trouble in the first place. (that and 10 competing Mega Man series)

Member

I thought I'd come around to the games visuals but to me it still doesn't look right. Is it me or as the art direction really been hit or miss for capcom lately? Games like resi7,mvci and dmc5 and even megaman 11 just look so different from what came before.

Even saying this no way in hell am i missing a new megaman game! Day one!

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I love platformers! But I really don't like this metroidvania fad... at all.

I just started Hollow Knight two days ago, and I have Dead Cells (though replaying the same bit over and over and over is getting tiresome - to the point I have already abandoned it despite the awesome gameplay)

Will be picking this up tonight. I have the feeling Hollow Knight will be getting abandoned as well, shame.

Member

I love platformers! But I really don't like this metroidvania fad... at all.

I just started Hollow Knight two days ago, and I have Dead Cells (though replaying the same bit over and over and over is getting tiresome - to the point I have already abandoned it despite the awesome gameplay)

Will be picking this up tonight. I have the feeling Hollow Knight will be getting abandoned as well, shame.

Definitely agree with you, and really don't get the love for these Metroidvania games either. I picked up Hollow Knight from the hype and couldn't handle more than a few hours it just bored me to pieces. Meh, I know I'm in the minority so it's all good. I love a good challenging platformer, however.

I've played games since C64, had nearly every console going through the years... but I have never seen Mega Man in the wild. Never seen or heard of ANYONE playing it, ever... even though I have been well aware of the franchise for as long as I can remember.

Uhhhh, I hope this is inaccurate. The list of resolutions makes it look like it's capped at 1080p. If they're not even supporting different resolutions properly, the chances of 21:9 support are nil. This isn't true, is it? If it is, what a fucking joke.

Digital Foundry pixel pusher

It's basically impossible to match the original games in terms of latency but I don't think MM11 is too bad in that regard (at least on the Pro). First impressions suggests that it's more responsive than the awful X Collection, at least. At least it's native 4K on X and Pro so it looks fantastic.

Zero surprise at lack of 21:9 support - it wouldn't work with how the game is built. Someone made an interesting angled view video of the game showing how it culls the scene around the player room. A lot of rooms are designed specifically to fill a 16:9 image as well so it would just appear black on the left and right much of the time.

Yeah, it's really good but I'm not sure I'd say it's better than 9 just yet. We'll see. Mega Man 9 is really nicely designed, I thought. This feels like an evolution of Mega Man 8 in many ways (which is a good thing). Wish it was receiving more attention.

Member

Looks like this game has pretty poor control. On multiple forums, different platforms, etc. I'm seeing people say that jump button presses get ignored and that there's a lot of input lag. How was this not brought up as a major issue by the review sites? They couldn't possibly just be shills who didn't even play the game, could they?

Member

It's basically impossible to match the original games in terms of latency but I don't think MM11 is too bad in that regard (at least on the Pro). First impressions suggests that it's more responsive than the awful X Collection, at least. At least it's native 4K on X and Pro so it looks fantastic.

Zero surprise at lack of 21:9 support - it wouldn't work with how the game is built. Someone made an interesting angled view video of the game showing how it culls the scene around the player room. A lot of rooms are designed specifically to fill a 16:9 image as well so it would just appear black on the left and right much of the time.

Yeah, it's really good but I'm not sure I'd say it's better than 9 just yet. We'll see. Mega Man 9 is really nicely designed, I thought. This feels like an evolution of Mega Man 8 in many ways (which is a good thing). Wish it was receiving more attention.

Actually, you could match or even beat the original in terms of latency with the right setup. Next frame input response has been demonstrated many times with a GroovyMAME setup and Retroarch with that runahead feature. Many SNES games played in Retroarch with runahead on have less input lag than they do on original hardware.

Dynamic generation of levels is not only possible but pretty easy, actually.

There are fan games that have taken fixed 4:3 asset games and dynamically size them for not just 21:9 but any aspect ratio. It's really not that hard. And this isn't some freeware fan game. They're charging $30. That's absurdly expensive for a short, simple game like this. It should actually be pretty fucking feature rich.

Digital Foundry pixel pusher

Actually, you could match or even beat the original in terms of latency with the right setup. Next frame input response has been demonstrated many times with a GroovyMAME setup and Retroarch with that runahead feature. Many SNES games played in Retroarch with runahead on have less input lag than they do on original hardware.

The problem is modern rendering engines. Mega Man 11 uses MT Framework. I'm not sure which rendering path they've opted for but post-2009 MT games typically use deferred rendering which inherently introduces additional lag. Even a forward approach isn't enough to eliminate latency. Basically, it's nearly impossible to reach the low input latency of tile based platform games from the old days just due to the nature of how these engines function. There are ways to go even lower (as we've seen with VR games) but I'm not sure that's possible with MT Framework. I don't think Capcom has really pulled it off in even their 3D fighting games.

Then there is the potential for display lag which is a separate issue.

So while Retroarch may have methods for beating the Super NES it's not really comparable in this situation.

As for the other issue, well, that's usually a limitation of budget and time. They shipped the game across a huge range of platforms. 21:9 would be nice but the lack of it doesn't really bug me and its addition would have zero impact on the actual gameplay. I assume they are sharing level data between all versions as well. The PC version would need specific maps designed around this feature and since Mega Man relies on rooms stacked and placed on top of and next to one another in a specific fashion, it could be tricky to test and get right.

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The problem is modern rendering engines. Mega Man 11 uses MT Framework. I'm not sure which rendering path they've opted for but post-2009 MT games typically use deferred rendering which inherently introduces additional lag. Even a forward approach isn't enough to eliminate latency. Basically, it's nearly impossible to reach the low input latency of tile based platform games from the old days just due to the nature of how these engines function. There are ways to go even lower (as we've seen with VR games) but I'm not sure that's possible with MT Framework. I don't think Capcom has really pulled it off in even their 3D fighting games.

Then there is the potential for display lag which is a separate issue.

So while Retroarch may have methods for beating the Super NES it's not really comparable in this situation.

As for the other issue, well, that's usually a limitation of budget and time. They shipped the game across a huge range of platforms. 21:9 would be nice but the lack of it doesn't really bug me and its addition would have zero impact on the actual gameplay. I assume they are sharing level data between all versions as well. The PC version would need specific maps designed around this feature and since Mega Man relies on rooms stacked and placed on top of and next to one another in a specific fashion, it could be tricky to test and get right.

Any software is directly comparable, because this isn't some charity case. It's a large company charging $30 for a game. Their engine being poorly designed for the types of games they're making with it isn't an excuse: it's simply a poor engine design for a game. It's not the consumer's responsibility.

Digital Foundry pixel pusher

Any software is directly comparable, because this isn't some charity case. It's a large company charging $30 for a game. Their engine being poorly designed for the types of games they're making with it isn't an excuse: it's simply a poor engine design for a game. It's not the consumer's responsibility.

You're basically asking the impossible, though. What engine should they have used? Do you know of any 3D games this gen that offer less than 1 frame of input latency? If you understand the difference between the way those old consoles draw graphics and the way a modern 3D engine works you would see why. They aren't miracle workers.

Also, something else I need to investigate - I'm starting to suspect that the Switch itself adds additional latency to everything. There seems to be something going on with it there beyond software running on the system. Not directly related to this, of course, but something I'm noticing more often. Switch games tend to be laggier.

The number of dimensions is irrelevant. It has absolutely nothing to do with input lag. You realize that Retroarch and MAME run 3D games with next frame input response, right? I'm not asking for the impossible because it's already been demonstrated as possible. The truth is that this was a cheap ass game sold at a premium price with a bad design that was ill equipped to handle the type of game they shoehorned into it, and they're asking the consumer to foot the bill for their own poor planning and mistakes.

Look at Megaman 11. The game doesn't even need advanced rendering techniques. They can't even fall back on that excuse. It's basically a high res Playstation 1 fixed camera 2D game.

Digital Foundry pixel pusher

The number of dimensions is irrelevant. It has absolutely nothing to do with input lag. You realize that Retroarch and MAME run 3D games with next frame input response, right? I'm not asking for the impossible because it's already been demonstrated as possible. The truth is that this was a cheap ass game sold at a premium price with a bad design that was ill equipped to handle the type of game they shoehorned into it, and they're asking the consumer to foot the bill for their own poor planning and mistakes.

Look at Megaman 11. The game doesn't even need advanced rendering techniques. They can't even fall back on that excuse. It's basically a high res Playstation 1 fixed camera 2D game.

OK, I think there may be some confusion here. Let's step back. You seem to think the latency is high, right? Maybe it's variable between platforms - PC could be higher as that has happened before.

The point is - the Xbox One X version of Mega Man 11 operates with ~60ms of input latency. It's one of the fastest games on modern consoles, actually. For comparison, Mega Man X on a real Super NES with wired controls produces 40ms of input latency. I'd say that's pretty damn close.

The Switch and PS4 versions are slightly higher than Xbox, for some reason, but still fast.

There is no real data on the PC version, however, so it could be that A) there is a genuine problem or B) the users complaining have made configuration errors or bad choices.

Based on these results, I'd say that MM11 is probably a forward rendered game then as 60ms is *REALLY* fast for a console game these days.

Mega Man X7 on PlayStation 2 is over 80ms while X8 reduces that back to 64ms.

Mega Man 11 on Xbox One is faster than most of those classic games (only the SNES games win out) while the Switch and PS4 Pro version are comparable or faster than Mega Man X7 on a PS2. Damn good results.

So, after refreshing myself on the numbers, I shouldn't have even bothered arguing at all! Clearly Capcom has done a great job here. The only question mark is the PC version.

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I've played games since C64, had nearly every console going through the years... but I have never seen Mega Man in the wild. Never seen or heard of ANYONE playing it, ever... even though I have been well aware of the franchise for as long as I can remember.

strange cause all my friends through middle school, highschool, and after everyone I knew about megaman. Megaman 2 has also been called one of the best nes games of all time. And megaman X1,2,3 are some of the best snes games, and nothing on the Sega was close to megaman x or x2

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Uhhhh, I hope this is inaccurate. The list of resolutions makes it look like it's capped at 1080p. If they're not even supporting different resolutions properly, the chances of 21:9 support are nil. This isn't true, is it? If it is, what a fucking joke.

a casual gamer to me, is someone who plays like party games, CoD+halo, sandbox open world games like GTA,fortnite, or sports games, or doesn't know about any games older then xbox or ps3. Its only a matter of time before people start modding MM11 on PC.

Member

Just picked it up on Steam. Very challenging. Seemingly simplistic in design, it has some truly devilish enemy placement. Which lent me a thought..would love to see what Studio MDHR could do for a Mega Man game.

Digital Foundry pixel pusher

Yeah. This looks and feel amazing. Whoever is complaining about input lag in those links is full of shit or using a terrible display. It’s exactly as the numbers suggest. It’s completely on par with other games in the series from the 90s.

Member

OK, I think there may be some confusion here. Let's step back. You seem to think the latency is high, right? Maybe it's variable between platforms - PC could be higher as that has happened before.

The point is - the Xbox One X version of Mega Man 11 operates with ~60ms of input latency. It's one of the fastest games on modern consoles, actually. For comparison, Mega Man X on a real Super NES with wired controls produces 40ms of input latency. I'd say that's pretty damn close.

The Switch and PS4 versions are slightly higher than Xbox, for some reason, but still fast.

There is no real data on the PC version, however, so it could be that A) there is a genuine problem or B) the users complaining have made configuration errors or bad choices.

Based on these results, I'd say that MM11 is probably a forward rendered game then as 60ms is *REALLY* fast for a console game these days.

Mega Man X7 on PlayStation 2 is over 80ms while X8 reduces that back to 64ms.

Mega Man 11 on Xbox One is faster than most of those classic games (only the SNES games win out) while the Switch and PS4 Pro version are comparable or faster than Mega Man X7 on a PS2. Damn good results.

So, after refreshing myself on the numbers, I shouldn't have even bothered arguing at all! Clearly Capcom has done a great job here. The only question mark is the PC version.

Yes. This isn’t tested with a display. This utilizes Nigel Woodall’s latency testing board which bypasses the display entirely. So, yeah, it has 40ms of lag.

Of course, if you’re on a CRT, that’s pretty much ALL you get. Modern displays can add to that. My TV has ~20ms of lag, for instance, so that bumps MM11 up to 80ms total versus MMX1 on a CRT. Still comparable to all the PS1 games.

I’d assume that if someone was having issues, which is surprising as control is tight, it’s more that they aren’t liking the control more than any actual latency. A lot of people complain about lag when that’s not always the culprit.

Nigel’s tool definitely helped figure out Tekken 7 which launched with high input lag but has since been greatly reduced via patches and is now quite fast.

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Yes. This isn’t tested with a display. This utilizes Nigel Woodall’s latency testing board which bypasses the display entirely. So, yeah, it has 40ms of lag.

Of course, if you’re on a CRT, that’s pretty much ALL you get. Modern displays can add to that. My TV has ~20ms of lag, for instance, so that bumps MM11 up to 80ms total versus MMX1 on a CRT. Still comparable to all the PS1 games.

I’d assume that if someone was having issues, which is surprising as control is tight, it’s more that they aren’t liking the control more than any actual latency. A lot of people complain about lag when that’s not always the culprit.

Nigel’s tool definitely helped figure out Tekken 7 which launched with high input lag but has since been greatly reduced via patches and is now quite fast.

I don't think so, CalebHart only did speed runs for X games for many years over classic megaman games, MMX games are a lot faster, and you can dash, air dash, and wall climb. He's only starting to speed run MM11, though he might give it up. Also speed running some of the older mm games with slide is a pain in the ass. And megman 1 and 2 speed runs have to be perfect with all the glitches. Then you also have to learn menu swapping, cause they are not like megaman x were you can just press L-R to change weapons.

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Default settings a.k.a. Borderless windowed with vsync: Substantial input lag
Borderless windowed without vsync: No input lag, yet looks like it has vsync anyway (probably syncs with windows), in some places such as the water-push parts of acid man's stage there is slowdown/frame drops
Fullscreen no vsync: No slowdown, no input lag, but screen tearing as would be expected
Fullscreen with vsync: No input lag, no slowdown